Have you seen or heard about the CBS 60 Minutes segment on for-profit education company Career Education Corp. (CEC)? The report accuses CEC of repeatedly engaging in fraudulent business tactics against government lending agencies and thousands of students who have enrolled in one of their 80 schools around the country. The gist of the allegations:

A year ago, CEC was one the hottest stocks on the NASDAQ exchange, with five years of record growth and $1 billion in annual revenue. . . Brooks College in Long Beach, Calif., offers training in fashion and design, but its graduates have a special nickname for their alma mater: “Crooks College.” Why? “Cuz they robbed us,” says one graduate. “Everything was a lie,” says another. What was the biggest lie? “Job placement -- 98 percent job placement,” several graduates said. . . “The school has no credibility with the fashion industry, whatsoever,” says Thurston.

Complaints, laid out in a number of lawsuits against CEC by former students, investors, and employees, are now under investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. . . [CEC former employees] say there were some dedicated teachers there, but that the administration was more interested in making money than in educating students. . . “[Many former CEC students] were not prepared, but at the same time, the instructors were really pressured to pass them through that class to keep them in school, so they could keep the revenue” says Hanson.

Why hasn’t anything been done? “These private post-secondary schools are very sophisticated in their politics, and they actually have members of Congress who protect them,” [Rep. Maxine Waters] says. Over the past two years, career colleges and lending institutions that benefit from government-backed student loans handed out more than a million dollars in campaign contributions to members of the House Education Committee. Half of that money went to the committee’s two ranking members: Chairman John Boehner of Ohio and Buck McKeon of California. Both declined requests for interviews.

Am I really surprised that capitlaism would corrupt the once-esteemed institution of higher learning and a greedy, corrupt company like CEC, backed up by equally corrupt politicians, would defraud thousands of students trying to achieve the American dream? Uhhh, no.

Inside Higher Education reports that after Brooks College was put on probation, a new President took over and has implemented several reforms. These changes have been effective enough so that the probation against Brooks College has now been lifted: